My Japanese maple has been in for almost four years, and suddenly I have dead leaves all over. I am thinking it is water stressed as our spring was late and wet, and as summer was cool we didn't water as much. Since I live near Portland, Oregon, rain will be starting soon, and I'm hoping it will be fine. My question, however, is do I remove those branches now? They are a different color (red, the color the tree gets in winter), and where it meets the trunk, the area is black. Thanks for any help. moderator's note: split this post into it's own topic
When a branch on my Japanese maple dies it turns grey (winter kill). Personally, I would hang in there and only remove the branch when it did not produce leaves in the spring. Did the leaves droop but still feel moist before they fell off? Or did they curl, dry and then fall off? Jerry
Thanks for your help, Jerry. Right now, they're dry, still hanging on the tree. I will take your advice, wait and see what happens in the spring. It's the most beautiful specimen. In the winter, the entire trunk/limbs are a beautiful shade of red, which is wonderful here as we have many gray, wet days. The leaves are a lime green. I would certainly hate to lose it. javascript:emoticon('');
Would you be able to post a picture of the branches, to show the color changes? I am from Washington, and sometimes get a nasty fungus that can turn stems black. I have had it on some of my herbs, but not on a Japanese maple. Here is a blog from a gardener in Sequim, WA, about a bacterial cause of this also, which would be more likely. http://japanesemaplediseases.blogspot.com/ If either one of these is going on, this can spread to other plants. You may also want to show a picture to a local plant expert at a local nursery. Up here, we have lots of "Master gardeners" that need to volunteer at local nurseries in order to get or keep their status.
Another cause is verticulum wilt, which in this article, said had been seeing more of in Oregon. Sorry abou the reposting, but thought it was good info. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forum ... php?t=8797
well i think i've just found out whats wrong with my maple. its had alot of dead branches and leaves since i bought it. :'(
